Balloon Gallery

Andre Jacques Garnerin, French aeronaut and the first parachutist, c1800 (1910)

Andre Jacques Garnerin, French aeronaut and the first parachutist, c1800 (1910). Garnerin (1769-1823) became a balloon inspector in the French Army in 1793. In Paris in 1797, he performed the first public exhibition of a parachute jump from a free-flying balloon, descending 3200 feet. He was the first aeronaut to parachute regularly. He often worked with his brother, Jean-Baptiste-Olivier Garnerin. Illustration from The Connoisseur, (August 1910)

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images

5c Buffalo Balloon imperforate vertical pair, 1877. Creator: Unknown

5c Buffalo Balloon imperforate vertical pair, 1877. Perhaps the most enigmatic of all American stamps, the Buffalo balloon stamp is certainly among the premier rarities in aerophilately. Since it was privately issued for use with a standard U.S. postal service 3-cent stamp to pay for air handling of a mailed piece, it was (if one includes both private and government issues) the world's first airmail stamp. The stamp is an accurate representation of the enormous 92,000 cubic foot "Buffalo" balloon of Professor Samuel Archer King (1828-1914), and was designed by John B. Lillard, a clerk in the Wheeler firm and a passenger on the great flight. Interestingly, the engraver of the stamp was John H. Snively, a scientist who provided apparatus for experiments on the flight. The stamps were printed tete-beche format--that is, they are shown right side up and upside down below on one sheet. It is likely that in printing the stamp, one side was printed, and then the sheet was taken out and turned round and fed back in the press to produce a mirror image of the first row

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Repairing Barrage Balloons, c1943. Creator: Cecil Beaton

Repairing Barrage Balloons, c1943. Barrage balloons were used to defend against attack by enemy aircraft. They were raised aloft on cables to create a risk of collision, making the attacker's approach more difficult. The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs, was the female auxiliary of the British Royal Air Force during World War II. Its members did not serve as aircrew, but although they did not participate in active combat, they were exposed to the same dangers as any on the home front working at military installations. Among their duties were: crewing of barrage balloons, catering, meteorology, radar, aircraft maintenance, transport, communications duties including wireless telephonic and telegraphic operation. At its peak strength, in 1943, the number of WAAFs (members of the force) exceeded 180,000, with over 2,000 women enlisting per week. From "Wings On Her Shoulders", by Katharine Bentley Beauman, Late Fight Officer W.A.A.F. [Hutchinson & Co Ltd, London, New York, Melbourne, c1943]

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images